


Weak Spot

by MaggicSorceress



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Error is a bad boy, Gen, I like my messed up little trash man, Ink tries really hard for his friends, Minor Character Death, There's a surprising lack of villain Error fics, also happens, and that cannot be allowed any longer, he loves them in his own unique way, its more likely than you think, just a little bit, just trying out something new, like really hard, me??actually writing skeletons for once??, world destruction happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:07:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25987918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaggicSorceress/pseuds/MaggicSorceress
Summary: There were very few things in the multiverse that Ink made an effort to care about.His friends were one of those things.
Relationships: Ink & Dream & Blueberry
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Weak Spot

There were very few things in the multiverse that Ink cared about.

Correction, there were very few things in the multiverse that Ink _made an effort_ to care about, or at least as much as he _could_ care about something.

One of those things was the Creators. Sure, they were loud and occasionally annoying, but they had the capacity for brilliant ideas and worlds that took Ink’s breath away every time he visited. There were some universes that were so similar to others, whether that was with their inhabitants or just the setting, but there were others that were so violently unique that even _he_ felt out of place. If those places did anything, they just made him more willing to protect the minds behind the artwork.

Another thing was the very universes themselves, but that came as a surprise to no one. Sure, the reasons behind that ‘caring’ were a little selfish, he needed his paints to feel after all, but that didn’t mean it was any less genuine. He loved those AUs as much as he physically could.

Those two were the main pieces, the main things that Ink could confidently say he wanted to care about, that he tried to care about.

When it came to the inhabitants of those AUs was where things became a little…dicey.

Ink knew a _lot_ of people. Not only alternate versions of himself, but the alternate versions of many people, monsters and humans alike. However, there were very few whom he actually liked, who he actually got along with. The most notable being Dream and Blueberry. Dream himself was from a dead universe, ~~which Ink sympathised with,~~ and was running around the multiverse to fight off, and hopefully save, his brother. It was admirable, to be sure, but Ink didn’t fully understand Dream’s motives, even if they did benefit him in the end. Yellow was a much more pleasant colour than red. Blueberry was a swap Sans, one with seemingly endless enthusiasm and a strong sense of justice, and he had insisted quite strongly about joining Ink and Dream’s cause. Out of the many people in the multiverse, Ink cared about those two the most.

Yet he felt…almost sad. Sad wasn’t the right emotion. Was it guilt? Regardless, he felt something unpleasant when he inevitably had to explain his situation to the guardians he worked with. That even though he _wanted_ to care about them, when push comes to shove, or more accurately if he ever ran out of paint, he just _couldn’t_. They had been shocked, of course, that much Ink was expecting. What he _hadn’t_ been expecting was for Dream to smile at him, so gentle and understanding, and tell him that it didn’t matter if Ink’s emotions weren’t genuine, that they weren’t caused by some pulsing magical organ in his chest, what mattered was that he actively _chose_ to care about them, and that somehow made it mean that much more. Ink wasn’t sure, but he could’ve sworn something inside of him sparked warmly at Dream’s words, and for the longest time, those words were one of the only things keeping him sane.

He’d do anything for his friends. Fight off any enemy…

“Error…” Ink growled, left eye a red target and right eye a blue teardrop.

The universe around them was a mess, buildings toppled, dust scattered along the ground in sparse patches, the normally clear blue sky run through with lines of code. And throughout it all, hanging both limp and tense, were brilliant blue strings. They wrapped around buildings, seemed to fall out of the sky and tangle around an unsuspecting monster’s soul, dusting it within seconds. These strings, of course, were useless on Ink, but it didn’t stop him from proceeding through the AU with caution, steering clear of them.

He'd received a distress call from Dream about ten minutes ago, but as far as Ink knew, based on the little Dream had been able to share before the line went dead, it was _Nightmare_ that was supposed to be here, not _Error_.

Ink followed the strings to their owner, who lounged peacefully on the overhang of one of the many town shops, one hand raised and tangled in his strings, the other folded behind his head. What got Ink itching for a sip of red, however, were the two souls strung up on either side of the Destroyer.

“Error.” Ink commanded, voice low. “Let. Them. Go.”

“Ink!” Blueberry yelled. “It was a trap! We didn’t-“

“0h, sHut iT, wilL y0u?” The glitch spoke, fingers flexing tightly on the strings until his friend’s shouts turned into pained gasping. When they quieted, saying nothing more, Error pushed himself up, legs hanging over the ledge, swinging almost childishly.

“N0t y0ur bEst TimINg, SQuiD.” Error said, sending Ink a lopsided smile that was far more sinister than it was friendly. “I wAs beGiNNing t0 tHinK y0u WoUldN’t sh0w uP.”

“Did you honestly think that?” Ink asked.

Error’s smile widened. “If I dID, y0uR fRIenDs w0uLdN’T sTiLl be ‘hANGinG 0uT’ wItH mE.”

“What do you want, Error?” Ink said, eyes flickering to a plain white pupil and a red x.

“Is…” The Destroyer began, eyes darting to look at the crumbling universe around them. “Is iT n0t ObVIOus?”

“We made a deal.” Ink said. “You said you wouldn’t touch the main universes.”

“YeAH, wEll…” Error said, flexing the fingers on his right hand, admiring the way his strings loosened in response. “DeALs cHaNGe aND pe0plE chAnGE.”

Ink grit his teeth. “I’m _not_ letting you destroy this AU, Error.”

“I d0N’t tHiNK y0U hAvE muCH Of a Ch0IcE, CrEAt0R.” Error said with a smile, tilting his head in time with the curling of the fingers of his left hand, eyes lighting up with sadistic glee at the pained whimpers leaving his captive’s mouths. “I’Ll kEEp iT sImPLE, s0 y0uR iDI0dIc bRaiN cAN c0mPrEHenD: iF y0u LEt mE dESTr0y tHis AbOMinAtI0n 0F a UniVeRsE, I’lL leT y0ur fRIenDS g0.”

Ink narrowed his eyes at his enemy, a green triangle and a simple red dot. “And if I don’t?”

“ThEN Y0u fIGht me F0r tHEm, 0r WaTcH mE TUrn tHEM t0 DUST.”

Ink’s gaze wandered to his friends, to the barely there shake of Dream’s head, to the crumbling world around him, and back to the Destroyer. Error’s smile had since turned into a contemplative frown as he stared at the sky, as if he were analysing the lines of code running through it. Then, he turned back to Ink, looking smug.

“THeN AgAin…” Error said. “It’S N0t liKE y0u _CaN_ cARe aB0uT tHESe fILThY gLiTChEs aNyWAy. MaYBe I sh0uLD hAve jUSt…” He curled his fingers tighter. “KiLLeD tHem aLrEAdY. It w0uLD dEfINitElY d0 NiGHtmArE a FaV0Ur…aND I w0UldN’T mInD HiM 0wIng mE s0MeThINg…”

Ink summoned his paintbrush into his hands, glaring fiercely at Error. “I won’t tell you again. Let. Them. Go.”

Error laughed, loud and hysterical. The sound echoed around him, splintering and overlapping. It rang in Ink’s ears and his fingers twitched, itching to reach for his vial of red paint. He was already angry, but he still lacked the ability to feel that all encompassing rage that he currently felt the need to feel.

“MAN!” Error said through his laughter, sounding far too pleased with himself. “Y0u sURe aREn’T hApPY! S0…WhAT? Y0u dECiDed y0u’Re g0NnA fIGht mE, InK?”

“If I have to.” Ink said. “You aren’t giving me much of a choice here.”

“ACtUalLY!” Error said, loosening the clenching of his hand and raising a finger. “I aM gIVinG y0U a ChOiCE! Y0u cAN sAvE y0uR ‘FrIeNDs’, 0R, y0U cAn SAvE tHIs pATHeTiC AU.”

“You’ll leave it alone if I let them die?!” Ink asked, incredulous, eyes switching to a blue question mark and a red exclamation mark.

Error smirked. “N0t eXaCTly. SeE…iF Y0u fIGhT wItH LiTTle 0l’ mE, tHeN I’Ll _hAvE_ t0 lEt tHEM g0 iN 0rDEr t0 FiGhT y0U pR0PerLy, bUt…”

“’But’ what?”

“ThIS AU iS rUnNiNG 0uT 0f tIMe, _iNKy._ ” Error said, leaning back against the wall of the building. He looked at his wrist, even though Ink knew he wasn’t wearing a watch. “IN fAct. I d0N’t tHiNk tHIs plACE haS m0rE ThAN tEN mINuTEs uNtiL iT’S n0ThinG buT c0De dRIfTINg aImlESSly tHr0uGh tHE v0Id.”

Ink swallowed.

“S0, rEAllY…” Error continued, turning crazed mismatched eyes onto Ink. “It AlL dEPeNdS 0n WhEtHEr 0r N0t y0U thINk y0u cAN bEAt mE in LeSs thAn tEN mINuTes.”

Reflexively, Ink’s hand reached for his sash and traced the red vial. So far, Error and himself had a pretty even score when it came to AUs lost vs AUs saved, but for some reason Ink didn’t want to chance it. For some reason, there was something on the line here that wasn’t _just_ the life of the world and its inhabitants. Ink would gladly risk overdosing on red to save the two captives, but even drunk off of liquid rage Ink wasn’t sure he could defeat Error in under ten minutes. True, he could just let the AU die without a fight, but that seemed…wrong. And neither the Creators nor Dream would let him run away from this fight, especially considering this world was one of the more positive leaning ones. Ink was at a loss for what to do. It seemed the AU would die either way, but at least with Dream…

“PLuS,” Error said, catching on to the same conclusion as Ink, “y0u NeED mIStEr P0SiTiviTy 0Ver hERe t0 rESeT tHe w0rLd, d0N’t y0u? AnD IF y0U tAke t00 mUcH 0f ThAT pAINt 0f y0uRs, tHEn y0u’LL be 0Ut 0f C0mIssI0n t00.” He looked down at the Creator, laughing joyously at the hopeless expression painted onto his face. Then, he dropped from his perch, smirking. “I wIn, CreAT0R. I’vE fINaLLy f0uNd y0Ur WeAK sPOT!”

Ink took a breath and raised his eyes to where his friends hung. Dream would be back in a day or two, that was the perks of being the literal embodiment of positive emotions, but Blueberry…

There was no coming back for the swap Sans, unless Dream and himself forced a reset on Underswap…but resets took _days_ , and Blueberry wouldn’t remember a single thing about them afterwards. Ink hesitated.

Then, one at a time, his friends peeled open their eyes, blue and gold, and stared down into his own flickering ones with nothing but determination. Ink took another breath and narrowed his eyes at Error.

“I have no weak spot.” Ink said. “Destroyer.”

Error raised an eyebrow. “0H? Is ThAT s0?” Then, he twitched his fingers and shattered Dream and Blueberry’s soul in one sharp movement.

Too preoccupied with admiring the way their dust fell from his strings to the ground below, Error failed to notice Ink pulling the red vial from his sash and downing it in one go, paintbrush already prepped to swing.

When the paint hit, it hit hard.

And Ink couldn’t remember anything that happened after that.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a little different than what normally spews from my brain, but I LOOOVE Error as a bad guy (about as much as I love him as a soft boy) and there's not a whole lot of content for that. SO I thought I'd try my hand at writing some!  
> Hope you guys liked it! Comments and kudos are always lovely to see! <3 <3  
> P.S: Tell me if I'm doing this boy justice I haven't written villains in a long-ass time-  
> -Maggic


End file.
